Pirate probe headed for
inactive status

That's the official word coming from the Platte City
Police Department regarding the case of the large Pirate
statue that was stolen from the lobby at Platte County
High School only to be recovered several days later.

Det. Dennis Trabue stated that the case of the Pilfered
Pirate may be only a few days away from being considered
inactive by the police department.

"We have just about reached the end of our leads
and the investigation. When there's no further evidence
or an investigation, the case is considered inactive by
the police department," stated Trabue.

As of press time the case was still considered active,
but Trabue stated the case is growing closer to that inactive
status every day.
"Once we've taken care of every lead we have, we
have to go into an inactive status, and we've pretty much
exhausted all of those leads," explained Trabue.

Trabue explained that once the case does enter into inactive
status, the department will not be able to turn anything
over to the prosecutor's office because it isn't a closed
case.

"At this time we don't have a prosecutable case
to present to the prosecutor," said Trabue.

The eight-foot-tall, 700-1,000 wood-carved Pirate was
stolen from the high school lobby between 8:30 p.m., Saturday,
March 23 and 10:30 a.m., Sunday, March 24. Police say
there were no signs of forced entry.

Sources stated the gym floor was gouged when the Pirate
was dragged from the lobby to a rear door.

The Pirate was retrieved by school district personnel
several days later at an undisclosed location. Damage
included the knob of the Pirate's staff being broken off,
scratches and chips in the wood of the structure.

The statue was believed to have been carved around 1974
by John Faust, an art teacher at the high school, with
the help from some students.